"So, what is this matter of grave importance you mentioned? And how might I be of assistance...?" Vahn questioned, leaving Remedios and her Paladin attendants speechless as he personally poured her a cup of tea before seating himself across from her at a small but well-made, square-topped wooden table.
Staring down at the cup Vahn had poured for her, Remedios deliberated for several seconds before bringing it to her lips and downing its contents in a single go.
"Hmmn...?"
Feeling a soothing warmth permeate her body, along with a sweet, minty flavor suffusing her taste buds, Remedios couldn’t prevent her brows from rising. She wasn’t particularly fond of tea, but the flavor and fragrance of Vahn’s tea made her seriously consider asking for a second cup.
clnk
Suppressing the wayward impulse, Remedios set her cup down, met Vahn’s gaze, and revealed, "A coalition of demihuman forces from the Abelion Hills recently invaded the Roble Holy Kingdom. We have been mustering our forces for a counterattack, but by the time we’ve the men and supplies to reclaim our lost cities, hundreds of thousands will have perished..."
"That is a matter of grave importance..." Vahn confirmed, a slight frown marring his face. He had been planning to visit the Abelion Hills following his stay in E-Rantel, so he couldn’t help but find the timing suspicious. At the same time, however, he knew such events were functionally fated to occur near him due to his proximity and affiliation to the setting’s central cast of characters.
"That is why we’ve come all this way—" Remedios started, lowering her head with such force that her forehead struck the table as she pleaded, "Please, lend us your strength! Even if it’s just providing aid to the injured, your assistance could save countless innocent lives in both the short and long term!"
"I can’t deny that it is within my power to aid you and your people. And you’ve already demonstrated your sincerity by coming all this way..." Vahn acknowledged, closing his eyes and leaning onto the knuckles of his right hand. He had previously declined to intervene in Re-Estize’s war with the Empire, but the Roble Holy Kingdom’s predicament was different—at least in terms of its urgency. He couldn’t overlook the possibility that the Roble Holy Kingdom had antagonized the demihuman tribes of the Abelion Hills, but that was a decision made by their higher-ups. It was something their people deserved to be slaughtered over...
Opening his eyes, Vahn took note of the blood trickling from Remedios’ forehead as he met her gaze and asked, "What has your Kingdom brought to the table to entice me? If you’ve done your research, you would know I have no interest in wealth or trinkets..."
"Regrettably, there is very little I can promise you on my authority alone..." Remedios admitted, her hands clenching into fists as she asserted, "But if you can help rescue our Queen, there is nothing our people wouldn’t offer up to you in turn..."
"Your Queen—she’s been captured by the enemy...?" Vahn questioned, his eyes narrowing as he suddenly felt that Remedios was keeping something from him. What he found odd was that she didn’t seem to be lying. Rather, there was genuine belief behind her eyes—mixed with existential levels of fear and concern.
Hanging her head and clenching her fists tight enough that her palms would have bled if she weren’t wearing gloves, Remedios admitted, "She has been—by an elite force of the enemy’s Chieftains..."
BANG
"However—!" Remedios exclaimed, slamming her right fist on the table, her eyes turning bloodshot as she asserted, "Our Queen is too valuable as a hostage for them to have simply killed! As long as we can find out where she’s being kept prisoner, we can rescue her...!"
"I see..." Vahn muttered, closing his eyes and weighing the consequences of accepting or refusing Remedios’ request. He could feel the latter’s fury and irritation at his calm, outwardly untroubled reaction. But to her credit, she managed to calm herself and settle into her chair without interrupting him or erupting anew.
"Have you considered petitioning the Sorcerer King for the aid of his forces...?" Vahn questioned, opening his eyes and preempting Remedios’s visibly offended response by stating, "I meet with the Sorcerer King on a near-daily basis. His power and grasp of the mystical arts are far beyond conventional spellcasting. If you wish to locate and rescue your Queen in the shortest amount of time, I can almost assure that he would be able to provide a solution."
"At what cost...?" Remedios questioned, gnashing her teeth and scowling as she pointed out, "If Your Grace hasn’t noticed, the Sorcerer King is an Undead—the enemy of all things living. What point is there to saving our Kingdom from ruin if we end up compromising on everything we believe in the process?"
Shaking his head, Vahn calmly retorted, "A capable leader cannot afford to have such a black and white view of the world, Grandmaster Custodio. I understand where your bias stems, but presuming that every Undead is the same is no different from believing that all humans are the same. It is wise to preserve a reasonable degree of suspicion toward individuals and ideas that differ from the norm. But without getting to know someone on a personal level, lumping them in with all other members of their species is nothing short of bigotry..."
"Tch..."
Though she really wanted to rise to her feet and shout into Vahn’s face that he was the greatest fool she had ever met, Remedios wasn’t willing to imperil the continuation of her Kingdom and the retrieval of her Queen to defend her values. Instead, after tapping the table several times with her right index finger, she asked...
"Could you—could Your Grace petition the Sorcerer King on our behalf? As I mentioned before, there is little I can offer an independent party like yourself, much less the King of a nation..."
"I can..." Vahn confirmed, nodding. "However, if I am to do so, it will be with the expectation that the Roble Holy Kingdom shows favor to the Sorcerer Kingdom in the future. I have come to regard the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, as a friend and confidante. If your country later adopts the stance of vilifying him due to his Undead status, I will ensure that every nation in this world learns of your ignobility..."
"You would really go that far for a man who forsook his humanity in the pursuit of knowledge and power...?" Remedios questioned, causing the two Paladins behind her to shift nervously. The older of the two looked as if he wanted to step forward and cover Remedios’ mouth to keep her from speaking further, but he ultimately held his position.
"You expect me to selflessly aid a Kingdom that has nothing to do with me, but can’t fathom how I can defend someone I’ve gotten to know and have observed making the lives of his subjects easier—just because they happen to be Undead?" Vahn questioned, shaking his head before calmly asserting, "You’re beginning to permit your tongue to run faster than your thoughts, Grandmaster. For now, you and your men should return and get some much-needed rest. We will meet again once you’ve had a chance to calm your mind and collectively organize your thoughts..."
Before Remedios could respond, Vahn performed a dismissive wave with his left hand, expelling her, her two attendants, and the Paladins waiting outside from the barrier he had created. Then, no longer having a use for the clone he had created for the meeting, his form abruptly collapsed into thousands of golden flower petals...
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[January 18th DxD/September 10th DBT]
"First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my past words and actions..." Remedios expressed solemnly, appearing before Vahn after three days of his refusing to see her until she had a chance to rest, head bowed and kneeling. Magic could stave off the effects of exhaustion, but it was a poor substitute for actual sleep.
Shaking his head, Vahn, seated comfortably atop a floor cushion, stated, "You have done nothing to warrant having to apologize. And, even if you had, an apology without sincerity holds no meaning. Raise your head and take a seat..."
"..."
After several seconds of silence, Remedios took a moment to unfasten her sword and sheath from her hip before sitting awkwardly across from Vahn, ankles crossed in her silver, mithril-alloy greaves. The setting was one of the tents within the latter’s Seven Lotus Spring, so there were no chairs present.
Preempting whatever Remedios had to say, Vahn, preparing tea, left the sharp-eyed brunette at a loss as he revealed, "After our previous chat, I went to confer with the Sorcerer King and apprise him of your Kingdom’s predicament. In the intervening period between then and now, his forces were able to locate and recover your Queen. You should be able to speak with her shortly after this discussion."
"What? Are you...how is that possible...?" Remedios questioned, unable to keep her mouth shut, too slack-jawed to give voice to the many questions that had arisen in her mind.
"All the Sorcerer King required was a personal item or article from your Queen. After that, he was able to use his magic to pinpoint her location using a combination of remote viewing spells," Vahn explained, pausing to pour himself and Remedios a cup of tea before meeting the woman’s gaze and revealing, "After that, it didn’t even take a full hour to recover her and several others from the mine they were being held in. I didn’t inform you sooner because of your Queen’s condition. I won’t go into detail, but she required significant medical and psychological intervention..."
"Those bastards! I’ll slaughter every single one of them...!" Remedios growled, gnashing her teeth to the point her back molars cracked and tears began streaming down her face. She didn’t need Vahn to recount the specifics to picture the condition her Queen had been found in. There were really only three fates that awaited women who fell into demihuman hands—they either ended up as cattle, slaves, breeding stock, or all three in varying order...
"Your rage is more than justified..." Vahn confirmed, nodding. He had also experienced a cold fury when he learned what had been transpiring in the demihuman-occupied mine. Had he personally taken part in the rescue, it was highly likely that he would have slain those responsible as a matter of course.
"However..." Vahn continued, forcing Remedios to return to her seat using his Domain before adding, "I won’t abide you launching a crusade against demihumans once this matter has been resolved. One of the prerequisites for my intervention is that the Roble Holy Kingdom will restructure itself to be more open to cooperation with non-human races. I don’t expect things to change overnight—particularly after this incident. But it is precisely due to your dogmatic views toward demihumans that things have escalated to this point..."
Opening her mouth and finding herself unable to speak, Remedios was forced to listen as Vahn stated, "This isn’t up for discussion. I invited you here as a courtesy and to warn you. Your Queen—Her Majesty Calca—has already agreed to our conditions. But as the greatest Grandmaster in the storied history of the Roble Holy Kingdom’s Paladin Order, your influence is not small. If you act rashly and emotionally, you could form a rift in your Kingdom at a time when it should be focusing on rebuilding..."
Feeling the slight, silencing pressure on her vocal cords relax, Remedios, sporting a notably dark expression, asked, "What, exactly, are you asking of me?"
"Once all of this is over with, I want you to focus on restructuring and building up the Paladin Knight Order to include branches that specialize in civil engineering, residential outreach, and logistics—just to name a few..." Vahn stated, once again denying Remedios’ ability to speak as he went on to detail his intentions. In simple terms, he sought to have the Roble Holy Kingdom follow the reformist trends established by Princess Renner and Emperor Jircniv, beginning with the abolition of the slave trade and laying the foundation for a public education system. He didn’t care if that system stemmed from the church at its core. He just wanted more people to have more opportunities. And if Remedios intended to overtly interfere with his attaining that goal, he made it abundantly clear to the glaring woman that the Paladin Order did not require her as its head...
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